The Bothy, Auchencastle

13/10/2026

Today I got The Bothy, Auchencastle ready for Hallowe’en, The South of Scotland Dark Sky Festival and Autumn. The telescope is set up for star gazing from the patio. There are hot chocolate pods under the Tassimo machine, blankets for snuggling in front of the fire, the Halloween decorations are up and the dogs are supervising the pheasants.

09/10/2026

The Plough is looking beautiful over The Bothy, Auchencastle this evening. I hope all the people visiting the South of Scotland for the Dark Sky Festival are having a great experience.
Here is a link to some Dark Sky Festival events near The Bothy:

https://scotlandstartshere.com/event/?event-categories=dark-sky-festival&event-sort=location&event-current-lat=55.32298896681278&event-current-lng=-3.4768545598715495

08/10/2026

The Bothy has just reopened after a week closed for a refresh and upgrade. Thank you so much to Hayden of Thompson Joinery, Garry of GG Anderson Painter & Decorator and Shaun of R. Currie Electrical Contractor. You have all worked so hard, co-ordinated and co-operated with each other, thank you!!
Thank you also Ann Braithwaite and Martin P**t Greenwell , for both of your support and help all week.

02/10/2026

The sky is beautiful this evening! These photos were taken just 2 minutes walk from The Bothy, with an ordinary iPhone - definitely not the latest, shiniest model 😂
I’m so fortunate to have Dark Skies every evening. Yes, they may sometimes be cloudy skies or raining, but that gives me the amazing temperate rainforest environment around me too.
See you all soon for the South of Scotland Dark Sky Festival 2026, 9th - 18th October.
Find out more here:
https://scotlandstartshere.com/darksky/dark-sky-festival/

Read more about temperate rainforests here:

https://savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk/resources-identification

02/10/2026

This private swimming pool is 30 minutes drive from The Bothy.

The unsupervised pool is 9m long by 4m wide with a depth of 1.2m. There are steps to enter the pool and it is heated to 28-31c. The Pool House is a quiet and relaxing environment with a large changing area with two individual changing rooms. There is also a toilet and shower.

Nestled in the Lowther Hills, Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, 1 mile south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass. While you are in the area, The Wanlockhead Inn is the highest pub in Scotland and serves food, has a pool table and has often had live music. There is also the Lead Mining Museum nearby.

The Pool is situated in a modern, bespoke designed building with far-reaching views which are everchanging throughout the different seasons.

02/10/2026

The Proudfoot is in Moffat, just off the High Street. It is a not-for-profit club, and all are welcome - no signing-in or anything, you just walk in like any other pub or hotel. The drinks are great value, the atmosphere at the quiz is so much fun, I try to go as often as I can. I haven’t tried the bingo yet but it is in my list!
The live music on Thursdays is 10-20 local acoustic musicians sat in a circle taking it in turns to play a piece of music, and they join in with each other informally. It is usually traditional Scottish / folk music. I think you would pay a lot to hear such good quality live music anywhere else.

21/09/2026

Autumn at The Bothy, Auchencastle

21/09/2026

A great day out in Glasgow - Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, a ride on the subway, coffee, shops.
Just one of the many places to visit when you stay at The Bothy, Auchencastle

21/09/2026

I had a great day in Glasgow today. I went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum (free admission, free guided tours) and did some shopping, had amazing coffee at Laboratorio Espresso and rode on the subway. While it is only an hours drive to Glasgow from The Bothy, Auchencastle, parking near Kelvingrove can be expensive so I would definitely recommend using the subway to get around the city. Alternatively, ditch the car completely - the X74 bus from Beattock or Moffat takes you into Buchanan bus station, next to the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre and subway station. Keep an eye on the Stagecoach website and Moffat Community Support page for updates about delays / cancellations to the bus, they do sometimes happen.
Other places to visit in Glasgow include The Burrell Collection, House for an Art Lover Tantrum Doughnuts and the Barras Market.

24/06/2026

Happy 30th birthday to Claudios Moffat! Remember to book a table when you next visit Moffat. Delicious food and great service.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹

30 years ago our parents Claudio and Florence lived out their dream of owning and running their own family run Italian restaurant. An adventure that found them moving from Dumfries to Moffat.

On this night 30 years ago they opened the doors to “Claudios restaurant”

Myself and Davide are forever thankful for the continued custom and support from our wonderful customers and also to the numerous staff members that have worked within our team, we couldn’t have done it without you🥰

Tonight we will raise a glass to our parents continuing their dream🍾🥂

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹